Ice Obsession
by FeatherWings
Summary: Sequal to Hypothermia, Mannen runs away to find himself in a strange town. What's he looking for?
1. Distorted Reality

Ice Obsession

Sequel to Hypothermia

By: FeatherWings

Mannen walked the streets of Awayuki Town. It was raining and he was soaking wet. The ice knight had run away from at dusk and it was getting darker and darker as he walked.

'Everything seems fine but not real or like something's missing.' he thought as he walked. 'Maybe "missing" isn't the right word. Life doesn't feel real and nothing seems tangible. As though it's all fake or maybe...I don't belong. This kind of life isn't for me... I'm not needed here.

Mannen stood in front of the park. 'It seemed real back then.' Mannen reached over his shoulder to touch his back, which was now absent of wings. 'There should be someone somewhere that needs a knight's help. But why doesn't any other knight try to find them?'

'If only someone would ask for help. If only I could hear them.'

Mannen winced as lightning struck somewhere in the distance. It was like _that _day when he had become sick. 'I need to get stronger. So one day when someone needs my help again I can help them better.' the ice knight turned and walked away from the park.

'First, I have to get out of this rain." He put the hood of his jacket over his head and continued walking. It wasn't long after he had started walking again that he came upon a train yard.

One of the cars of a train was open and he decided to go inside. The inside was empty except for a few boxes in the corner. There was some room between the boxes and the wall so Mannen crawled in between.

His eyes soon grew heavy. 'Today is just like _that _day.' It wasn't long before he dozed off. While he slept the train began to move.

Awayuki Mansion-

Everyone was asleep except for Himino. She looked at her flowers that sat on the windowsill. "I have a strange feeling, Mom. I saw Mannen leave this afternoon, I didn't stop him and he hasn't come back yet. He's been acting strange lately, sad, dazed. I thought he needed some space, that's why I didn't stop him. I hope he's ok. Please watch over him."

Train-

Mannen opened his eyes halfway as he leaned against the wall of the train car. In front of him sat a woman with long red-pink hair.

"Himino?" She smiled then Mannen blinked and opened his eyes completely. She was gone. "I must have been dreaming..." Mannen got up and walked over to the door.

His eyes widened and he gasped at the side, the train was moving and was now in country area. "Where am I?..." The wind blew his hair slightly as he looked at the scenery.

He sat down and hung his legs over the edge. He wondered if he should stay or jump off now. Option two didn't appeal to him so he decided to see where the train took him.

To his surprise, it wasn't long until the train stopped at a station. This is where Mannen got off. He wondered the town for anything interesting. This town was different from Awayuki Town. It was more open and peaceful.

It was then when someone caught his eye. A woman with short hair in a kimono and sandals was walking towards the forest near the town. He wasn't sure why this woman stood out but he decided to fallow her.

She walked on a path through the forest now. Mannen tried to hide behind trees so she didn't see him or find out he was fallowing her.

She stopped though and started giggling. "You can come out, young one." Mannen froze. "I know you've been fallowing me ever since town." Mannen decided to show himself.

The first words out of his mouth weren't the nicest way to introduce yourself. "Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid!"

This made the woman laugh more. "So, anyway, why have you been fallowing me?"

"Sorry...but you stood out for some reason. So...I decided to fallow you." he said while calming down.

"I see. Won't you come to my home?" Mannen blinked.

'I was fallowing her, she finds out, laughs and now invites me home?' Mannen was confused by the strange woman. He was curious about who she was. "O-ok..."

He now walked besides her. "What's your name?"

"Mannen."

"My name is Chiyome. You are the knight of ice, are you not?"

"Huh? How did you know that?"

"I just know. I'm impressed by you."

"Why?" Chiyome didn't answer, just smiled. 'She's weird...' "Don't avoid my questions!"

"I'm not avoiding you're questions."

"Yes you are!"

"I'm just not answering them."

"Isn't that the same?"

"Maybe."

"You're going to find out anyway."

"Eh?"

"Well, actually I'll tell you. Just not now."

"Why not?"

"Why?"

"What?"

"What?"

"You're answering a question with a question!"

"You said don't avoid questions."

"But you said you weren't avoiding them!"

"So I was right."

"Right about what?"

"Right that I wasn't avoiding the questions."

"So?"

"That was what we were arguing about."

This conversation was really confusing Mannen. How did she turn the conversation her way? Mannen decided to stop talking for a while and just kept walking. It was then when Mannen noticed a dagger tucked under Chiyome's ribbon around her kimono. Why would she have that?

Chiyome looked over at him then but he looked quickly away. He looked back when she looked ahead again. Was she holding something else in her sleeves? Maybe the dagger was an extra weapon or one to throw enemies off thinking if she discarded it they would think her defenseless. But who and why would she be fighting anyway? Maybe it was his imagination gone wild. The dagger could be an air loom or just incase someone attacked her like a thief.

"You shouldn't stare at a woman too long they might get the wrong idea!" Chiyome teased him. She knew what he was looking at.

"What? No!" she had been watching for a while.

She laughed again. "Calm down! I know you were looking at the dagger."

"So...What's it for?"

"You'll find out."

"There you go again! Can't you give me a straight answer?"

"It is a straight answer." Mannen decided not to fight, it would only confuse him more.

FeatherWings- Do you want me to continue? Yes or no in ur review, of course, comments are always welcome. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! So, who is this Chiyome? Find out next chapter!


	2. Musica

Ice Obsession chapter 2

"Eh?" Mannen questioned the lady.

"I'm from Leafania. You will train under me. It will be hard so if you want to quit, quit now."

"You're kidding..." Mannen shook his head. "I'll do it."

Chiyome smiled. "We'll start tomorrow. Get some rest. There's a room down the hall." Mannen nodded then turned and left down the hall of the house Chiyome lived in.

Chiyome's house looked too big for only one person and he wondered why. Who was she in Leafania? Why had she come here? Mannen wasn't tired enough to sleep so he currently laid on his back on the bed that was in the almost empty room.

He looked over to see a door that led outside. Mannen sat up for a second before curiously heading to the door and opening it. The light from the room laid on the floor outside. He looked out and saw fireflies then looked back at the ground. He saw his shadow then unexpectedly another shadow walk across. Mannen shot around but no one was in the room but himself.

Mannen closed the door then walked back into the room. The door to the hall was also closed. The boy slowly walked around and noticed places on the wood floor that creaked. There was a closet in the room so he opened it to see darkness. There was on thing interesting in the closet; box sat on the floor. Mannen took it out and dusted it off with his had then sneezed as the dust became airborne. The box was old, plain and was painted a dark blue.

The ice knight opened it and it begun to play a song, which Mannen didn't recognize. It was a nice sound but soon Mannen felt as though someone was watching him. He turned around but there was no one.

Mannen closed the music box and placed it back in the closet.

"What are you doing" Mannen turned to see Chiyome. "with that?"

"I was just looking."

"Careful with that."

"Why?" Chiyome ruffled Mannen's hair while Mannen pulled his head away to get her to stop. She turned to leave. "Wait! Why?" Chiyome stopped then turned to him.

"You'll find out tomorrow." she said before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Mannen sighed then turned off the light and laid back on his bed. It was a while before Mannen allowed sleep to claim him.

-Dream-

Mannen wasn't sure where he was. He knew he was in the forest and that in front of him stood an old well. He looked around but saw no one. Mannen looked back to the well and began to approach it. He was close to it when the dream started to slip away. Suddenly, it was gone when he felt a pain in his stomach and quickly woke up.

"What the hell!" Mannen sat up as far as he could. Chiyome stood next to him with her foot on his stomach, she grinned.

"Finally awake." Chiyome took her foot off of his stomach. She was holding a black fold up fan.

"What was that for?" Mannen yelled.

"Listen!" Chiyome started. "I'm you're teacher now so shut up and do as I say!" she yelled back. "Unless you want to get kicked out of here and I won't teach you." Mannen growled but said nothing. "Good. Now eat then meet me outside." she left.

Mannen got up and walked into the hall. It was dark still so he wondered what time it was. He made it to the kitchen.

Chiyome sat outside on the porch in the dark holding her fan open. 'Something is strange around here.' she thought. The music box lay next to her. The woman smirked. She then heard footsteps and closed her fan.

"Not very quiet, are you?" Mannen grunted at her comment. "When you are trying to do a sneak attack you can't make a sound." Mannen nodded.

"So, what do I have to do?"

"Have you heard of shadow boxing?"

"Yeah, it's when you practice fighting when you're not fighting anyone but you act like you are."

"A method of training. You'll be doing that today but a bit different."

"How so?"

"The music box."

"I don't fallow you..."

"It's an illusion music box."

"What's that?"

"It's self-explanatory." Mannen looked away. "When I open it," Chiyome continued, "you will think that you're fighting yourself but it will be an illusion. That's not to say you won't get hurt."

"But I thought you said this is an illusion?"

"Are you ready?" Chiyome ignored his question. Mannen nodded. Chiyome opened the box and Mannen now stood before himself.

The illusion Mannen attacked immediately and Mannen quickly jumped out of the way so the fake him hit a tree. His fist went into the tree's bark but he seemed unfazed as he took it out. Blood dripped down his fingers from his fist. He turned to Mannen.

Mannen rushed at his enemy only to hit air and get tripped but while on the floor tripped the fake him. Mannen used this time to get up but soon the fake him was standing too but Mannen threw a punch at the fake him.

Chiyome watched on, observing Mannen's strategies and techniques. She noted he lacked much of both. Mannen was pushed back against a tree. He fell and landed on his stomach. He was dirty and beaten but he wouldn't give up.

'He's determined, I'll give him that.' Chiyome stood up as the two still were fighting. Mannen tried to use his ice as a shield which momentarily stood the fake one then made spikes spike up from the ground and grazed the other boy's stomach as he jumped away. The fake him was on the ground but soon tried to pull the same trick on Mannen but only cut his leg.

"That's enough." she closed the box. Mannen looked like he was about to collapse and the other Mannen disappeared into the box. The battle seemed like it had just begun but it had actually lasted for hours.

"Why didn't anything happen when I opened it?" Mannen said between breaths.

"How do you know it didn't?" Mannen thought about this. "You don't know how to control it so perhaps something did happen and you thought it was reality."

Mannen fell to his knees. He coughed because he was so tired and thirsty. Chiyome took out a water bottle from her sleeve and threw it on the ground in front of Mannen.

"You have the rest of the day off." she told him before walking away.

Mannen took the water bottle and drank the contents quickly. It was warm out for the ice knight so he decided to head inside. There was a roll of gauze on his bed which Chiyome had put there for him.

He looked down at himself to see various cuts and bruises. He took the gauze and wrapped it around his scrapped hands, knees and elbows along with the cut on his leg. He was too exhausted to eat or take a shower so he laid on the bed and quickly drifted off to sleep. He began to miss the people he had left.

"He certainly is interesting." Chiyome said to herself in another room. "I know you think so too, whoever you are." she said as if someone else were there.

-Awayuki Town-

"Mannen!" Go called. The knights and the Prétear were searching for the young ice knight who had disappeared without a trace two days ago. The knights were scattered all over Awayuki Town.

"Go...I didn't think he'd be gone this long..." Himino told the fire knight.

"It's not your fault. We'll find him..."Go stopped the quietly continued so Himino couldn't hear. "I hope." Hayate flew down to the two who was soon fallowed by Kei, Hajime, and Shin. "Anything?"

The two young ones shook their heads. "No, nothing." Hayate told them. Go sighed.

"Did he run away or get taken away?" Kei questioned.

"Dunno. Himino saw him leave but that doesn't tell us a whole lot."

"Mannen...where are you?" Himino said softly.


	3. Nana

Ice Obsession- chapter 3

Mannen slept under the warm covers of his bed. He tossed and turned while he was in a dream. It was dark out and only stars and fireflies lit the sky. It was fairly warm and at the end of summer.

Mannen looked around him. He was in a dark purgatory with no up and no down. He heard his name being called and turned but found no one. _"Mannen_. someone called again. In his head a picture of Himino passed. Again his name was called and he thought of Go, then Hajime, then Shin then the rest of his friends.

_"Mannen."_

"Who's there?"

_"Mannen. The well."_

"What?"

_"The well." _

He was suddenly in a forest with a woman who looked like Himino. She pointed deeper into the forest.

Mannen woke up. He stood outside looking into the forest. "Huh?" he said confused.

"Mannen!" Chiyome came running out and hugging him. "I made breakfast!"

"I had a weird dream."

"What about?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Come eat." she tugged on his arm. They walked into the house.

Sometime later Chiyome asked Mannen to run into town and fetch some things. Mannen commented that she was treating him like a dog and Chiyome responded by patting him on the head. He took his time walking through the forest and into town.

When Mannen arrived he found some towns folk gathered around something. He pushed through the crowd to find a little girl being pushed around. "Hey! Cut it out!" Mannen yelled. When they wouldn't stop, he grabbed the girl's hand and ran. But the crowd of people would not give up so easy and gave chase.

Finally, they lost them in the forest and now they walked towards Chiyome's house. "So, what's your name?"

"Nana." the young girl told him. She was about 7 and had a plain dress on. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she had droopy eyes. "I'm an orphan.

"Why were those people hurting you?"

"I stole something to eat."

The rest of the way they walked in silence. They got to the house and Chiyome was waiting outside. "She's so cute!" Chiyome ran and hugged Nana. "You must be hungry!"

They all sat around the table as Nana ate. "Do you have anyplace to live?" Chiyome asked. Nana shook her head. "Live here with me! All you have to do is keep the house clean! That will be your job."

"Really?" Chiyome nodded. "Thank you Master Chiyome!"

"Just Chiyome."

Mannen walked away silently. As he walked he could hear the two talking and it faded slowly. He was now outside looking out into the forest. He didn't want to know but he knew what he was thinking about...Reki. Nana reminded him of Reki. What was she doing now that he was gone? What were all of them doing? Why was he thinking about this now?

_"Mannen, the well." _he heard someone say. The same person...from his dream! He couldn't remember before but now he did. What did it mean? What well? He took a step forward and for a moment he could have sworn it was a nightmare but something he didn't want to wake up from just yet. He backed away, back into the house and away from whatever was pulling him into the forest.

_"I'm sorry...Reki...everyone."_ he thought to himself. He walked into the room where the other two had been eating but they were gone. "Figures..." suddenly someone covered his eyes.

"What's wrong, Mannen?" Chiyome's voice asked.

"I wish I knew..."

"Is it something from home?"

"Just thinkin."

"About what?"

"Why are you so nosey?"

Chiyome pulled at his cheeks. She leaned over into his ear. "Fallow her." she whispered then ran away to find Nana who was outside sweeping.

"What?" Mannen soon fallowed. He felt a single raindrop fall on the tip of his nose. He looked up at the stormy sky then closed his eyes. He wanted to welcome the rain and he wanted the rain to wash away all this confusion.

_"Please go..." _a woman's voice said.

_"Go where?" _Mannen thought.

"Maaaaaaaannen!" Chiyome called. "Traaaaaining!" she looked at the boy then tilted her head. "Mannen?"

"Go where? Go where?" he mumbled to himself. He then felt someone pulling on his cheeks. He knew who it was but he tried very hard to ignore her. Angry grew inside of him while he tried not to think about it. But he soon exploded. "WHAT DO YOU WANT, CHIYOME!" he yelled at her. She looked at him with puppy-dog eyes.

"I just wanted to train you. Your so mean." she fake cried.

Mannen sighed. "I'm..." he mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I'm sorry, ok?"

"You learn so well."

"What?"

"You haven't said your sorry too often have you?"

"Errr..."

"It's good to apologize when you hurt someone."

Mannen thought instantly of Shin. He always made him cry or would tease him when he cried. Was it really that bad, what he did to his little brother? Surely he knew that Mannen was only **teasing**,right? Maybe...he didn't. Maybe none of them knew how sorry he was for all the trouble he caused or that he didn't mean anything by it. He just liked to cause mischief. He was so thankful to them for taking care of him while he was sick... and for worrying about him.

He looked out into the forest again. _"I wonder..."_

"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" he didn't answer her but continued to stare into the unknown forest which held a secret, a secret he would soon uncover.

FeatherWings: I'm glad someone's reading this story. T.T please keep reviewing!

tidus2529- yeah, I'm alive. guess I was frustrated. thank you for reviewing! n.n

bobbyneko- yup a sequal! I have more to come! -thumbs up-


	4. The Well

Ice Obsession chapter 4

tidus2529- thank you for reviewing! n.n

"Mannen!" Himino called. She walked down the street. When Mannen didn't come back that night nor the next nor that week they became terrified. Mannen had run away. Himino asked herself over and over again why he would do such a thing. Wasn't he happy? She started to reconsider how he had acted the weeks before his disappearance.

Mannen had been distant. Every time they tried to say hello, he turned a corner and left. He ignored them. But why? "Mannen!" Himino crouched on the street. She covered her eyes and began to weep silently. "Mannen...please come home..."

_"Mannen...please come home..."_ Mannen turned to look into the forest as he heard Himino's voice, then another.

_"The well."_ it said. Mannen turned to Nana who was sweeping the patio.

"What's wrong, Mannen?"

"Will you tell Chiyome that I need to go somewhere for a little while." Nana nodded.

Mannen ran into the forest. He ran yet he didn't know where to, he let his feet guide him. Chiyome sat on the roof, watching him. "Finally." she said, Nana looked up at her then smiled.

_"This way."_ Mannen fallowed the voice. It was a voice that sounded a little like Himino, a voice he had heard before but it was older sounding. Could it be...Himino's dead mother? Mannen tripped and cut his knee but this didn't phase him, he got up and kept running.

After running for minutes, he stopped and looked around. "What do you want!" he yelled into the forest.

_"Go to the well."_ Mannen turned in circles and turned his head every way.

"Where? What well?" Mannen stopped in one direction then ran. 'What the hell am I doing?' Mannen thought to himself. He stopped and in front of him was an old beaten down, falling apart well. He walked towards it.

He placed his hands on the stones that was the building material of it and looked down into it. Mannen picked up a rock and dropped it in. The sound was not one of water but one of hitting solid ground. He noticed there were metal bars that led down into the well. Mannen climbed in and descended.

While he climbed down he noticed the bars were rusted but he continued. It was a few more steps down when this over looked detail backfired in his face. The bars under him collapsed under his weight and then the one he held onto broke as well because they weren't strong enough to hold him up. He fell to the bottom.

There was a knock on his bedroom door. Mannen shot up in bed. Go opened the door and stuck his head in. "Mannen! Get the hell outa bed! You'll be late for school!"

"What? Go? Where am I?"

"What do you mean where are you? Your home!" he shut the door. Mannen looked around his room. Still messy. Still the way he left it. But he had left home, he had run away hadn't he? Was it all a dream? But he remembered it all so clearly. It had to be real, right? He got out of bed. His usual clothes were on and he now put his shoes on but left them untied.

Now he was outside his room and closed the door behind him. Hajime and Shin ran passed him. "Morning Mannen!" the both yelled quickly. Mannen walked down the stairs after them. They were headed for the dining room and so was he.

He sat down at the table where he looked around. Go, Hayate, Kei, Hajime, Shin, Himino, and her family where all there. They all acted like nothing had happened. But he was so sure that he had run away. Mannen ate nothing but his stomach didn't disagree.

"Why aren't you eating?" Go yelled at him.

"I ain't hungry!" Mannen yelled back.

Now he was leaving the house with Hajime and Shin for school. "Mannen are you ok? Shin asked

"Yeah, are you ok? Hajime asked.

"I'm...fine..." he boys looked at each other then the two younger ones ran ahead. They were near the elementary school now. Hajime and Shin played tag while they walked closer and closer. When they arrived they said good-bye to each other then Mannen was on his way to his middle school.

Mannen walked into the park and sat down on a bench. 'Wait a second...isn't this...' he appeared suddenly on an ice lake. "Tsumetai!" the women looked up at the call of her name.

Mannen shot up in bed. "What...is this...?" he said to himself. Go stood in front of him.

"You ok?"

"Go! This already happened!"

"What are you talking about, Mannen?"

"This isn't...real..." the scenery shattered and so did Go. Mannen could fall himself falling yet there wasn't anything around. "Chiyome? Nana? Is anyone there?" he yelled out. Mannen looked down. He could see the well underneath him.

Mannen opened his eyes. He used his hands to push himself up. He felt the back of his head to feel it was damp with what he thought was blood. It was dark but he sat in the light that shone down from above. He looked to the side and could make out that something small was next to him. He let his eyes adjust.

It was a flower, a small purple flower. Mannen's eyes widened. "Himino..." images flashed in his head.

_"Mannen...come home..." _Mannen stood up and looked towards the opening of the well.

"Hey! Mannen! You ok?" Chiyome yelled down.

"Yeah!"

"Hold on. We'll help you out, ok?" down tumbled a rope. Mannen climbed out with the help of his friends, Chiyome and Nana.

"Chiyome...I have to go..."

"I know. You learned the greatest lesson didn't you?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Don't mention it! Go home, Mannen." she smiled. Mannen smiled back then nodded.

Mannen ran. He ran as fast as he could to get to town and hopefully a train that would take him back to Awayuki Town.

TBC!

FeatherWings- I wonder if anyone is reading this. I hope so. If you are please review and I update as soon as I can ok?


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